With the help of her classmates and fellow dancers, Stratford Central Secondary School student Julia Smith raised nearly $1,000 through her Dance for Change fundraiser last month. Pictured from left are Lily Friesen, Clare Howley, Alex Damjanovski, Lexi Mcleod, Alexandra Wolfgram, Lochlyn Trefiak, and Tanner Dewys. Photo by Ashley Sebben

It may have started out as a class project, but Stratford Central Secondary School student Julia Smith’s Dance for Change fundraiser show not only raised nearly $1,000 for Optimism Place Women’s Shelter in Stratford, but it also raised awareness of the impact violence against women has in the community.

On Jan. 21, Smith and 20 of her fellow dancers hosted the culmination of a project assigned by Stratford Central interdisciplinary-studies teacher Danielle Black.

“Basically, the main project in that class is you get to pick something you’re passionate about and make a difference in the world,” Smith explained. “I decided to take my two passions, women’s rights and dance, and put them together to make a show to teach people the importance of (understanding) violence against women, and also to raise money for Optimism Place.”

Connected by the themes of women’s rights and violence against women, Smith’s primary goal for the show was to open her audience’s eyes to the impact violence has on women and children. Through interpretive dance, each number — which ranged from solos to 12-person performances — told a story that Smith says really hit home with her audience.

“I really wanted to show how the arts can have a great impact on our community and how the arts can be a tool to do that,” she said. “… Dance is something that’s really important in my life, and I think it’s important for people in the community to see how important the messages are that dance can portray, and how much of an impact they can have on our community, and that the arts are an important way to strengthen our community.”

Through the sale of tickets, which were $5, raffle tickets, and additional donations, Smith and her dancers raised $987 for Optimism Place, which she presented to Alicia Houston, the shelter’s residential manager and volunteer coordinator, on Wednesday.

“All the money raised here will go directly to programming for the women,” Houston said. “So we have a lot of smaller, little things we would like to do with the women — kind of like recreational type projects and things like that — … to take their minds off of what’s going on in their lives and have some fun, because I know that these guys had a lot of fun doing this project.”

While she admits organizing a fundraising show was more work than she initially thought, Smith hopes to carry it forward as an annual fundraiser and to continue raising awareness of violence against women in the community.